The Tale of Hljod the Giant's Daughter
by ZdenkaWaldner
Summary: Odin chooses a Valkyrie; the Valkyrie chooses life and death. This story is based on the Volsung Saga and the Eddas and includes a short section in alliterative verse. (Odin, Hljod, Hrimnir, Hrimnir's wife, Rerir's wife, Volsung. Het (Hljod/Volsung, other canon pairings). Warnings: Multiple character deaths; brief violence; supernaturally unpleasant pregnancy ending in death.)
1. The Giant's Daughter

Written for the Not Prime Time Exchange 2013.

Many thanks to Becca Stareyes and duckwhatduck for beta-reading and to Sovay for commenting on an early draft of Chapter 2. Any remaining errors are entirely mine.

This story is partly based on the Volsung Saga but should be comprehensible without having read it. Divergences from the saga are intentional.

* * *

Once there was a giant, and his name was Hrimnir. He was very fierce and very strong. One day, as Hrimnir was walking through the fields near his house, he spied an old man wearing a tattered grey cloak and leaning on a staff as he walked.

And Hrimnir said, "What are you doing, prowling around here? The worse for you, old man, that your road has crossed mine, for now you will die."

"Will you do such wrong to a stranger?" said the old man. "Justice and wisdom alike advise that you should not ill-treat travelers; for you know not of what kin they come."

"I care nothing for that," said Hrimnir.

"Give me one chance at least to save my head," said the old man. "Let us have a contest of riddles; if you win, you may do as you like with me, but if I win, you must give me something. Let us say, you will send your eldest son to fight for me. My house has good walls, but I have need of more warriors to defend it."

"Your sons must be feeble indeed," said Hrimnir, "if you have need of other men's sons to defend your house."

"If my son came to your house," said the old man, "I do not think one stone of it would be left standing. He is boisterous when he is angry. But I am here alone, and we two must deal with each other. Ask your first riddle."

And Hrimnir, who wished only to be rid of the old man quickly, asked him: "Answer if you know, and save yourself from a worse fate. How were the walls of the gods' realm built?"

The old man answered:

 _"A strong stallion and stout giant_  
 _in one winter those walls upraised._  
 _For his labor, lovely Freya,_  
 _the sun and moon he sought in fee."_

"And yet they did not pay the builder his fee," said Hrimnir, "but rewarded him with death; and I think that is shameful."

"He did not complete the walls by the appointed time," said the old man, "and so he did not earn his fee; but as for taking his life, I admit that the gods broke their oaths." Then he said, "Answer if you know, and save yourself from a worse fate. How was the sky made?"

Hrimnir answered:

 _"First of giants by gods' hands fell –-_  
 _old Aurgelmir, ice-begotten._  
 _His hollow skull the sky became;_  
 _the gods raised it to roof the earth."_

"So I have heard," said the old man, "and that giant is called Ymir among men."

Then Hrimnir said, "Answer if you know, and save yourself from a worse fate. What is the greatest sorrow that will befall the gods?"

The old man answered:

 _"The greatest grief the gods befalls_  
 _when bright Baldur is borne to Hel._  
 _The blind god's dart death-wound gives him,_  
 _works unwitting much woe to come."_

"If Odin is so wise," said Hrimnir, "can he not prevent it?"

"Odin plans always for the time to come, but neither man nor god can escape the fate that the Norns have decreed." Then the old man said, "Answer if you know, and save yourself from a worse fate. A fierce dragon lies on Gnita heath, guarding his treasure. What sword will slay him, and what hero's hand will wield it?"

Hrimnir thought for a long time, and at last he said sullenly, "I do not know."

"Then you will learn it hereafter," said the old man. "Will you give me your son?"

"My house lies yonder," said Hrimnir. "Let me go there first, so that my wife may prepare for a guest, and you follow after." The old man agreed.

Hrimnir went to his house in great anger, since he did not want to give his son to a stranger. Now Hrimnir had a giantess wife, who was every bit as strong and fierce as he was himself. When he came home, his wife saw that he was angry and asked the reason. Hrimnir told her what had happened. "It is not to be borne," he said, "that we should give our son to this vagabond."

"Take my counsel," said his wife. "When the stranger comes here, send the dogs against him. They will tear him to pieces if he doesn't run away."

Hrimnir looked out the door, and when he saw the stranger approaching, he released the dogs, which bounded at the stranger as if to tear him to pieces. But as soon as they caught his scent, they all slunk back whimpering.

"That did not go well," said Hrimnir. "What should I do now?"

"Take my counsel," said his wife. "When the stranger comes inside, offer him mead to drink. I will mix in baleful herbs and sing dark spells over it, and once he drinks it, that will be the end of him."

Hrimnir did as she said; but when the old man came to the house and was offered the drinking horn, he made a sign over the cup and threw in green leaves of a leek, and drank it down unharmed. "The mead in your house is not as well-brewed as that I have tasted elsewhere," said the old man. "But now bring your son here."

Then Hrimnir was very angry and did not take the time to seek his wife's counsel, but seized a large axe from the wall and swung it at his guest. But the stranger ducked aside, while the axe split the table with the force of the blow and remained stuck there.

Hrimnir stepped out of the hall and said to his wife, "What is to be done? He evades everything that I do to him."

"This is no ordinary traveler," said his wife. "But let us still try to defeat him. Cast a spell on our daughter Hljod to change her appearance so that she looks like a boy. If the stranger wants a warrior for his host, a girl will be no use to him, and when he finds out the truth, he will send her back."

So Hrimnir called his daughter Hljod and changed her appearance so that she seemed to be a boy. He brought her out to the stranger. "This is my son," said Hrimnir, "and you may take him along with you."

The stranger looked at Hljod closely from under the brim of his hat. At last he said, "Then come along." He left the house, taking the girl with him. And when they had gone a little way from the giant's house, he turned to her and said "There is no need for that." He traced a rune on her forehead, and Hljod stood before him in her own shape and her maiden's dress.

"What is your name?" the stranger asked.

"I am called Hljod," the girl said. "My father told me that when you saw I was not a boy, you would send me back."

"That might be true," the old man said, "if I were a king or a chieftain. But I am the High One who rules the victorious gods in Asgard. And you will be Valkyrie and wish-maiden to me in Valhalla."

After a little while, they came to the boundary of Hrimnir's land; and the giant and his wife were waiting for them there in the form of great wolves. When they saw Hljod in her own form, the giant's wife spoke and said, "Now I know what I suspected before. You are not what you seemed: you are Odin, who stirs up strife between kinsmen."

"And this is not your son," said the old man, "but I will take her with me nevertheless -– and I think it will be the worse for you because you tried to deceive me."

When they knew that he was Odin, they no longer tried to stop him. But the giant's wife said to Hljod, "Do not go with him. I am afraid of what will happen."

The old man leaned on his staff and said to Hljod, "If you leave your father's house and come with me, you will fight gloriously in many battles. Odin's mead will be poured for you; you will dwell with the chosen heroes and your name will be renowned among people yet unborn. In time to come, you will have a hero for your husband, and descendants more famous still, whose name will be exalted while the world lasts."

And Hljod said, "I will go."

It is said that Odin had her fostered among valiant warriors, and she grew mighty in arms. Later he gave her a sword and a horse, and she fought on many battlefields while the gods' power lasted.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 _"You should not ill-treat travelers":_ From Odin's advice in the Hávamál (Sayings of the High One) in the Poetic Edda. "With insult or derision treat thou never a guest or wayfarer. They often little know, who sit within, of what race they are who come." (translated by Benjamin Thorpe)

 _The dogs . . . slunk back:_ In the Lay of Grimnir (Grímnismál) from the Poetic Edda, Odin is recognized because "no dog, however fierce, would attack him."

 _evading poison in the drinking horn:_ Brynhild instructs Sigurd,

"For the cup shall you make a sign  
And be wary of misfortune  
And throw leek into the liquor.  
Then, I know that,  
You will never get  
A potion blended with poison." (From the Sígrdrifomál, trans. Jesse L. Byock)

 _Odin's mead:_ Also signifying poetry

 _whose name will be exalted while the world lasts:_ This promise is made to Sigurd in Grípisspá (Gripir's Prophecy) from the Poetic Edda.


	2. The Golden Apple

The king of the Huns' land was called Rerir; he was said to be descended from Odin. The giant Hrimnir cast a baleful spell on Rerir and his wife, so that they would remain childless. But Odin made plans in turn, as is told here.

In Hrimnir's house fair Hljod was born,  
the giants' maid mighty in strength.  
From Hrimnir's house Herian took her;  
a steed he gave and strong weapons.

The wise war-god his wish-maid calls;  
golden apple gleams in his hand.

 _Odin:_  
'Haste to Rerir, hero renowned.  
Stern Sigi's son a son must have.  
When the holy tree trembles at root,  
ravening runs the red-jawed wolf,  
then stand Volsungs valiant in war  
with shining swords, the serpent's bane.'

Willing, Odin's warrior maid  
receives the gift golden-shining.  
She clothes herself in crow's feathers,  
sun-circling, she soars aloft.  
Sword-king she sees, sitting thoughtful,  
darkly musing on many things.  
Hrimnir's daughter downward plunges,  
the tree-branch bending bows under her.

 _Rerir:_  
'Bird so bright-eyed on branch sitting  
never saw I by night or day.  
Some weird, wot I, on wings you bear.  
Fear not, corpse-crow, craven to find.'

 _Hljod:_  
'Hail to Rerir, hero renowned.  
Stern Sigi's son a son shall have.'

Gleaming apple, gift of Odin  
the crow lets fall – king's hands catch it.  
The golden fruit he gladly ate;  
in high-roofed hall the Hunnish king  
to Almveig went, wife beloved;  
A son quickened in queenly womb.

Such fruit I deem dangerous to taste:  
bringing to life the longed-for heir,  
death to Rerir's radiant queen.  
All this tale is told hereafter.

* * *

 **Notes:**

This chapter is a re-telling in verse of a section from the Volsung Saga. The verse form is fornyrðislag, a type of alliterative verse found in the Poetic Edda. I was inspired by reading J. R. R. Tolkien's English-language alliterative poems about Sigurd and Gudrun. If anyone is curious about those, the full citation is:

J. R. R. Tolkien. Edited by Christopher Tolkien. _The Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun._ Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2009.

 **Notes on the Verses:**

 _Herian:_ a name for Odin

 _wish-maid:_ This term seems to be equivalent to a Valkyrie.

 _Sigi's son:_ Rerir. Sigi was said to be a son of Odin.

 _the holy tree:_ Yggdrasil

 _the wolf:_ Fenris, who is freed from his bonds at Ragnarok

 _the Volsungs:_ Descendents of Rerir's son Volsung. According to the saga, these included the heroes Sigmund (and his sister Signy), Sinfjotli, Helgi, and Sigurd. As chosen heroes in Valhalla, they are to fight for the gods in the final battle.

 _the serpent's bane:_ referring to Sigurd's slaying of the dragon Fafnir, which earned him the epithet "Fafnir's bane"

 _the Hunnish king:_ Rerir. The geography of the sagas and Eddas is very vague.

 _Almveig:_ The Volsung Saga does not name Rerir's wife. I took the name Almveig from the "Lay of Hyndla" (Hyndluljóð) in the Poetic Edda.


	3. Queen Almveig

One day Odin looked down from his high throne into the realm of men. And when he had seen, he called Hljod to him and said, "It seems to me that danger is approaching the wife of King Rerir."

"Then I will defend her," said Hljod. She immediately saddled her horse and departed.

Queen Almveig was returning from a journey, when a fierce she-wolf sprang from the bushes to attack her. The queen was great with child and could not defend herself. The warriors who rode with her took up their weapons to fight the wolf, but the wolf leaped upon them fiercely and slew them one by one. When the queen's maidservants tried to protect her, the wolf slew them as well. And now the wolf turned to leap upon the queen. There Queen Almveig was truly in great danger. At that moment, Hljod alighted - for she rode her horse through the sky-roads in the manner of Valkyries. Hljod wheeled her horse to stand in front of the queen, and she drew her sword against the wolf.

But the she-wolf crouched back from her and spoke: "Will you redden your sword in the blood of your own kindred? Have you forgotten the house in the giants' realm where you were born, and the mother who nursed you?"

And Hljod looked upon the wolf and recognized her mother, the giant Hrimnir's wife. Hljod said, "I do not wish to harm you, mother, but you must not attack the wife of King Rerir, who is protected by Odin. Why do you hold such bitter hatred against her?"

The giantess answered and said, "Because the descendants of Rerir will do great harm to the giants' realm, slaying many of our kindred; and because it is fated that the boy she carries will grow up to be your husband –- surely a wretched lot for a spear-maiden and a giant's daughter!"

"If the Norns have decreed it," Hljod replied, "then no one can prevent it; but I do not think that any man will take me to wife against my will. King Rerir's son will surely be a great warrior - so the raven-god has told me."

"Leave this woman to her fate," the giantess urged, "and let Odin find his own heroes. Why should one of the giants' kindred attend the god's feasts? Only sorrow will come of that. I know a little of what is to come; but Odin knows far more than he has told you."

Hljod said, "I am Odin's shieldmaid, and that I will be while life remains to me. I have sworn oaths, and oaths I will fulfill. Accursed is the oath-breaker, and accursed is the warrior who forsakes her lord."

Then the she-wolf threw back her head and howled under the trees, so all the wood resounded; and she sped away on swift feet, back to the giants' land.

For her part, Hljod set Queen Almveig on her horse and led her back to the hall of King Rerir. When they came to the grave-mound beside the king's house, Hljod smiled and said, "This is where Odin sent me to King Rerir, to give him the golden apple."

The queen said in amazement, "You did so? Then who are you?"

"I am called Hljod, and I am Odin's wish-maiden in Valhalla. Odin's favor is upon your house."

"Yet I have heard," said Almveig, "that Odin's favor does not always lead to good fortune."

"The god looks far ahead to what will be," said Hljod. "For myself, I am glad not to be foresighted. Odin has said that no man should know his destiny beforehand; then his mind will be freest from care."

Almveig smiled. "Whatever your destiny," she said, "may you be blessed for your help this day, and in the former time." She took Hljod's hand in hers –- the queen's hand soft and white, while Hljod's was strong and calloused from the sword. "Perhaps we will meet again."

The giantess meanwhile had returned to her own country. There she found her husband, the giant Hrimnir, and she said to him: "I was not able to kill Rerir's wife."

"Do not be grieved by that," Hrimnir said. "I will cast a spell on her, so that the child will not be born, no matter how long she carries it. Our daughter Hljod will never be the wife of Odin's chosen hero."

"Even if the boy comes to be born," said Hrimnir's wife, "I think their troubles are not ended. Though Hljod go to the hall of Volsung and bear him many sons, I will bite deep in their throats and take the life from them."

"Yet take care," said Hrimnir. "Nine times you may go and devour the Volsungs; but if you go a tenth time, one of them will slay you." This was their conversation.

* * *

When five years had passed since that meeting, Queen Almveig went to the grave-mound beside Rerir's house and cried aloud: "Shield-maiden who gave my lord the life-giving apple on this very spot, she who saved me from the wolf in the wood: hear me and come to me now, if so it may be."

Hljod heard and came to her. "Why have you called me, lady?"

"I called you in deadly trouble. Rerir my lord has gone to Odin. I carry the child he left in me, but some curse or spell is upon me. Three years I carried this child while Rerir yet lived, and three years it has been since he went from me, but yet the child will not be born."

Hljod laughed and said, "I am a shieldmaiden; why do you ask me for counsel? I serve Odin, not Frigg. I cannot deliver a child."

Almveig said fiercely, "Your sword must deliver my child."

"What are you saying?"

"Have I not said, that some magic binds this child in the womb? There is only one way to deliver him: you must take your sword and cut him from my body."

Then Hljod was dismayed and said, "Many men have I slain in battle, but I dislike this work. If I do as you ask, you will surely die."

Almveig answered, "Already strangers prey on Rerir's lands and wealth, that should be my child's heritage. Soon some ship-king will come to take what is left; and I, who was Rerir's wife and queen, will end my days miserably in thralldom. Let me give this long-awaited child to the light, and I will be content to die."

Hljod said, "A thought has come into my mind, of runes my shield-sister Brynhild taught me. Let me try those first." And Almveig agreed. Hljod cut runes of aid into Almveig's palms; the queen did not flinch when her flesh was cut. Hljod gripped the queen's hands tightly and chanted staves to Frigg's attendants, who speed the child from the mother; but still the child would not come forth.

Then Almveig spoke again and said, "Do not delay, but cut the child from my body."

While Hljod yet hesitated, the boy spoke from his mother's womb. "Do not leave me here in the dark. Let me come forth, and I will fight without fear. I swear I will flee neither fire nor sword while I live."

Then Hljod did as Almveig asked, though with much sorrow. At last she took the child and laid him in his mother's arms. Almveig smiled and said, "Let his name be Volsung. He will rule over his father's kingdom." She looked upon her child, and so she died.

Hljod gathered them both in her arms, the dead queen and her living son, and carried them back to Rerir's hall. She gave them into the charge of the faithful vassals and went on her way.

* * *

When Hljod returned to Valhalla, she sought out Odin. Hljod said, "The son of King Rerir is delivered."

"It is well," said Odin.

"But Almveig who was the wife of Rerir is dead, and that grieves me."

"That child could not have been born," said Odin, "without slaying his mother; or by one other way, which you would have liked still less."

"What is that?"

"By slaying the one who cast the spell, and that is the giant Hrimnir."

Hljod shuddered and was silent.

"I did not wish it," said Odin. "For father to be slain by child would bring the doom-day more quickly. Rerir waits in my halls, and I will send for his son when I have need. None knows when the battle will come."

* * *

 **Notes:**

 _"Odin has said that no man should know his destiny beforehand; then his mind will be freest from care."_ In Hávámal (Sayings of the High One), from the Poetic Edda.

 _runes to aid childbirth:_

"Aid runes shall you learn  
If you would grant assistance  
To bring the child from the mother.  
Cut them in her palm  
And hold her hand in yours.  
And bid the Disir not to fail." (From the Sígrdrifomál, trans. Jesse L. Byock)


	4. The Leavetaking

It is said that when Volsung grew to manhood, Hljod became his wife and dwelt with him in love. She bore him eleven children, of whom the eldest were a twin-born boy and girl, Sigmund and Signy. The saga tells that a great tree grew in their hall and spread its branches overhead. Hljod and Volsung passed many years together, and yet she could not forget the rain of battle and the hall where Odin's chosen heroes wait. When her youngest son was old enough to walk alone, at last she said to Volsung: "Shieldmaid and Valkyrie I was when I wedded you, and shieldmaid and Valkyrie I am still. I must leave you and our children, and return to Odin's service." And Volsung agreed to let her go.

Hljod embraced each of her children in turn, from youngest to eldest. She said to them, "I have charmed you all with runes against poison and illness; be no cowards, and Hel will never hold you."

Signy wept and said, "Do not leave us, mother, for I foresee much sorrow."

Hljod answered: "If the Norns have spun sorrow for you, my daughter, then you must bear it. Whatever evil comes, help your brothers and find a way to meet it. I know you are wise, Signy my child, and will grow more so. But if ever a day comes when your father and brothers close their eyes and ears to your wisdom, think that Odin has brought it about to make the Volsung name more renowned in glory. For the rune-god promised me when I wed, when that tree was planted in Volsung's hall, that from my line and his would come heroes whose names will be exalted while the world lasts. And no man can escape his fate."

While Hljod bade farewell to her children, Volsung stood aside in silence. At last he said to her, "Hljod my wife, we have lived together for a long time, and our thoughts laughed together. If you must leave now, I will not stop you. Only tell me this: is it fated that we will meet again?"

And Signy said weeping, "Father, you will see her again."

"Signy is foresighted," said Hljod, "and what she sees will come to pass." Then she kissed her husband and departed, going back to Valhalla.

There she found Odin sitting thoughtful, with his ravens on his shoulders. Hljod asked him, "What troubles the god? What troubles the Sire of the Slain?"

Odin was silent for a long time, and then he said: "One was a Valkyrie, who rides no more in Herian's host. She disobeyed and granted victory elsewhere than she was bidden. I set upon her a heavy curse; I struck her down with a thorn of sleep. She is shieldmaid to me no more, not when the doom-day comes.

"I see far ahead to the end of all things, to the doom of the victorious gods. When the wolf breaks his bonds, when the bridge is broken and cast down, when the host of giants comes from the giants' land, where will the wish-maiden ride?"

Hljod looked him in the eye and answered, "When I was still young, I left my father and mother to follow the war-god. My sisters are Herian's shield-maids, my brothers are Warfather's chosen heroes. I ride where you bid me and strike as you bid me, not otherwise."

"It is well," said Odin. "Do not forget."

* * *

It is said that Signy the daughter of Volsung wedded King Siggeir of Gautland. Signy did not wish for the match, but she yielded to the will of her father and brothers. King Siggeir was most insistent that his kinsmen come to visit him in his own kingdom; and Volsung made the journey with all his sons. It was evening when Volsung's ships reached the land, and there was Signy waiting on the beach. "Turn back," she cried. "Turn back, my father, o my brothers. You are betrayed, and Siggeir has brewed a bitter drink for you."

But Volsung would not turn back. "I spoke while still in my mother's womb and swore an oath that I would never flee from battle, that I would fear neither fire nor sword. So I have done until now, and even in my old age I will fulfill it." When Signy saw that her father and her brothers heeded her not, she covered her face and went back to Siggeir's house in silence.

In the cold hour before dawn, Volsung wrapped himself in his cloak and stood at the prow of his ship. As he looked out to see if he could spy any movement upon the land, he saw a mail-clad figure riding towards him above the water. When it came closer, he saw that it was Hljod. An eerie stillness was about her. The wind that sent great rolling waves upon the strand barely stirred the golden hair flowing from beneath her helm. Volsung drew breath to greet her, but she stayed him with a gesture.

Hljod looked upon him for a long moment. At last she spoke and said, "Hero, son of Rerir, Odin calls you. Today you will drink with him in Valhalla."

Volsung laughed, and the light of battle was in his eyes. "Good is the mead in Odin's hall, better than Siggeir's brew of treachery. I am old, and it is best to go to Odin through the Valkyries' web of battle. I have sons who will avenge me. But if you were sent for them too, we will make a fine host, riding to Valhalla together."

"Today I was not sent for them," she said.

"Then let the Valkyrie stand beside me in the battle and see my deeds."

"I will stand beside you," said Hljod.

* * *

When the earth was fully light, King Volsung and his men beheld Siggeir's army coming onward like the swelling tide. It is said that Volsung with his sons cut his way eight times through Siggeir's host, slaying as they went; and Hljod bore her shield before him, though only the death-doomed could see her. But when Volsung turned to go through the host a ninth time, a raven called loudly from a tree; and Hljod departed from his side. There fell King Volsung in the midst of his enemies, hewn down by many hands.

When he was dead, the warriors of both armies saw a woman approaching, mounted on horseback and clad in a coat of mail. A helm was on her head and a sword girded at her side. Silence fell on the battlefield; King Siggeir's men stood motionless and a chill fell upon them. They could not move to strike down Volsung's sons, though the young men were weary with wounds and their swords were broken in their hands. Not till she departed was the spell lifted; and then Siggeir's men seized the ten brothers and bound them, but slew them not.

Hljod dismounted and raised Volsung's body in her arms. She laid him across her saddle and rode away; and she was not seen again by any of her children while they lived.

This is the end of the story of Hljod and Volsung.

* * *

 **Notes:**

 _"I have charmed you all with runes against poison and illness":_ an attempt to account for the Volsungs' unexplained poison resistance

 _Volsung's speech:_ In the Volsung Saga, Volsung responds to Signy's warning by saying: "All peoples will bear witness that unborn I spoke one word and made the vow that I would flee neither fire nor iron from fear, and so I have done until now. Why should I not fulfill that vow in my old age?" (From the translation by Jesse L. Byock.) I thought this was such a striking speech that I couldn't resist following it closely (and it gave me the idea to have the unborn Volsung speak in Chapter 3).

 _The end of the story:_ According to the Volsung Saga, after the battle Signy pleaded with her husband Siggeir not to kill her brothers out of hand. He left them bound in the woods, where a she-wolf came each night and devoured them one by one. When it came to Sigurd's turn (and he was the only one left), he killed the wolf with the help of Signy and escaped. The Volsung Saga says that the wolf was the mother of Siggeir, who could change her shape; in this version, for the sake of dramatic unity, the wolf is Hrimnir's wife. Signy then secretly bore her brother a son, Sinfjotli, with whose aid Sigmund took vengeance on Siggeir.


End file.
